Overview

The Uglies series has more than 3 million books in print, has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and spent more than fifty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now all four books feature fresh new covers and will reach an even wider audience.

Tally’s adventures begin in Uglies, where she learns the truth about what life as a Pretty really means. She rebels against the surgery that will make her a Pretty, but ultimately succumbs. In Pretties, Tally has forgotten...

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Overview

The Uglies series has more than 3 million books in print, has been translated into twenty-seven languages, and spent more than fifty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Now all four books feature fresh new covers and will reach an even wider audience.

Tally’s adventures begin in Uglies, where she learns the truth about what life as a Pretty really means. She rebels against the surgery that will make her a Pretty, but ultimately succumbs. In Pretties, Tally has forgotten all about her Ugly life, and when she’s reminded, she has a hard time listening. And what little’s left of the old Tally is further compromised in Specials, because Tally has been transformed into a fierce fighting machine. But when she’s offered a chance to forever improve civilization, will she be able to overcome her brainwashing? The answer is evident years later in Extras, after the Pretty regime has ended. Boundless human creativity, new technologies, and old dangers have been unleashed upon the world. But fame and popularity can be just as dangerous as extreme beauty….

Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature

Tally is about to turn sixteen—the most important birthday in her life. It is at age sixteen that residents of Uglyville cross over into New Pretty Town and their unattractive physical attributes are replaced to make them drop-dead gorgeous. Just before she is about to have her operations, Tally meets Shay, another Uglie about to reach the magic age of sixteen. However Shay is different; she is not convinced that being ugly is all that bad. Shay ultimately decides to run away and join a group of renegades who are resisting the authorities, leaving Tally to await her operations. Unfortunately, the authorities suspect Tally of assisting Shay's defection and refuse her operation until she betrays her friend. Author Scott Westerfeld has created a thought-provoking science fiction novel that begs to be discussed. 2005, Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, Ages 14 up.
—Deborah Taylor

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors. Tally declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots-or remain forever "ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the Smoke. It also attracts the eye of David, the aptly named youthful rebel leader to whose attentions Tally warms. However, she knows she is living a lie, for she is a spy who wears an eye-activated locator pendant that threatens to blow the rebels' cover. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this well-conceived dystopia. Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately, the cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

With a beginning and ending that pack hefty punches, this introduction to a dystopic future promises an exciting series. Tally is almost 16 and breathlessly eager: On her birthday, like everyone else, she'll undergo extensive surgery to become a Pretty. She's only known life as an Ugly (everyone's considered hideous before surgery), whereas after she "turns," she'll have the huge eyes, perfect skin, and new bone structure that biology and evolution have determined to be objectively beautiful. New Pretties party all day long. But when friend Shay escapes to join a possibly mythical band of outsiders avoiding surgery, Tally follows-not from choice but because the secret police force her. Tally inflicts betrayal after betrayal, which dominates the theme for the midsection; by the end, the nature of this dystopia is front and center and Tally-trying to set things right-takes a stunning leap of faith. Some heavy-handedness, but the awesome ending thrills with potential. (Science fiction. YA)

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

More by this Author

Scott Westerfeld is the author of the Leviathan series, the first book of which was the winner of the 2010 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. His other novels include the New York Times bestselling Uglies series, The Last Days, Peeps, So Yesterday, and the Midnighters trilogy. Visit him at ScottWesterfeld.com or follow him on Twitter at @ScottWesterfeld.

Read an Excerpt

From Part 1: Turning Pretty

Is it not good to make society full

of beautiful people?

—Yang Yuan, quoted in The New York Times

New Pretty Town

The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.

Of course, Tally thought, you'd have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right. The scudding clouds did look a bit fishy, rippled into scales by a high-altitude wind. As the light faded, deep blue gaps of night peered through like an upside-down ocean, bottomless and cold.

Any other summer, a sunset like this would have been beautiful. But nothing had been beautiful since Peris turned pretty. Losing your best friend sucks, even if it's only for three months and two days.

Tally Youngblood was waiting for darkness.

She could see New Pretty Town through her open window. The party towers were already lit up, and snakes of burning torches marked flickering pathways through the pleasure gardens. A few hot-air balloons pulled at their tethers against the darkening pink sky, their passengers shooting safety fireworks at other balloons and passing parasailers. Laughter and music skipped across the water like rocks thrown with just the right spin, their edges just as sharp against Tally's nerves.

Around the outskirts of the city, cut off from town by the black oval of the river, everything was in darkness. Everyone ugly was in bed by now.

Tally took off her interface ring and said, "Good night."

"Sweet dreams, Tally," said the room.

She chewed up a toothbrush pill, punched her pillows, and shoved an old portable heater — one that produced about as much warmth as a sleeping, Tally-size human being — under the covers.

Then she crawled out the window.

Outside, with the night finally turning coal black above her head, Tally instantly felt better. Maybe this was a stupid plan, but anything was better than another night awake in bed feeling sorry for herself. On the familiar leafy path down to the water's edge, it was easy to imagine Peris stealing silently behind her, stifling laughter, ready for a night of spying on the new pretties. Together. She and Peris had figured out how to trick the house minder back when they were twelve, when the three-month difference in their ages seemed like it would never matter.

"Best friends for life," Tally muttered, fingering the tiny scar on her right palm.

The water glistened through the trees, and she could hear the wavelets of a passing river skimmer's wake slapping at the shore. She ducked, hiding in the reeds. Summer was always the best time for spying expeditions. The grass was high, it was never cold, and you didn't have to stay awake through school the next day.

Of course, Peris could sleep as late as he wanted now. Just one of the advantages of being pretty.

The old bridge stretched massively across the water, its huge iron frame as black as the sky. It had been built so long ago that it held up its own weight, without any support from hoverstruts. A million years from now, when the rest of the city had crumbled, the bridge would probably remain like a fossilized bone.

Unlike the other bridges into New Pretty Town, the old bridge couldn't talk — or report trespassers, more importantly. But even silent, the bridge had always seemed very wise to Tally, as quietly knowing as some ancient tree.

Her eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness now, and it took only seconds to find the fishing line tied to its usual rock. She yanked it, and heard the splash of the rope tumbling from where it had been hidden among the bridge supports. She kept pulling until the invisible fishing line turned into wet, knotted cord. The other end was still tied to the iron framework of the bridge. Tally pulled the rope taut and lashed it to the usual tree.

She had to duck into the grass once more as another river skimmer passed. The people dancing on its deck didn't spot the rope stretched from bridge to shore. They never did. New pretties were always having too much fun to notice little things out of place.

When the skimmer's lights had faded, Tally tested the rope with her whole weight. One time it had pulled loose from the tree, and both she and Peris had swung downward, then up and out over the middle of the river before falling off, tumbling into the cold water. She smiled at the memory, realizing she would rather be on that expedition — soaking wet in the cold with Peris — than dry and warm tonight, but alone.

Hanging upside down, hands and knees clutching the knots along the rope, Tally pulled herself up into the dark framework of the bridge, then stole through its iron skeleton and across to New Pretty Town.

She knew where Peris lived from the one message he had bothered to send since turning pretty. Peris hadn't given an address, but Tally knew the trick for decoding the random-looking numbers at the bottom of a ping. They led to someplace called Garbo Mansion in the hilly part of town.

Getting there was going to be tricky. In their expeditions, Tally and Peris had always stuck to the waterfront, where vegetation and the dark backdrop of Uglyville made it easy to hide. But now Tally was headed into the center of the island, where floats and revelers populated the bright streets all night. Brand-new pretties like Peris always lived where the fun was most frantic.

Tally had memorized the map, but if she made one wrong turn, she was toast. Without her interface ring, she was invisible to vehicles. They'd just run her down like she was nothing.

Of course, Tally was nothing here.

Worse, she was ugly. But she hoped Peris wouldn't see it that way. Wouldn't see her that way.

Tally had no idea what would happen if she got caught. This wasn't like being busted for "forgetting" her ring, skipping classes, or tricking the house into playing her music louder than allowed. Everyone did that kind of stuff, and everyone got busted for it. But she and Peris had always been very careful about not getting caught on these expeditions. Crossing the river was serious business.

It was too late to worry now, though. What could they do to her, anyway? In three months she'd be a pretty herself.

Tally crept along the river until she reached a pleasure garden, and slipped into the darkness beneath a row of weeping willows. Under their cover she made her way alongside a path lit by little guttering flames.

A pretty couple wandered down the path. Tally froze, but they were clueless, too busy staring into each other's eyes to see her crouching in the darkness. Tally silently watched them pass, getting that warm feeling she always got from looking at a pretty face. Even when she and Peris used to spy on them from the shadows, giggling at all the stupid things the pretties said and did, they couldn't resist staring. There was something magic in their large and perfect eyes, something that made you want to pay attention to whatever they said, to protect them from any danger, to make them happy. They were so...pretty.

The two disappeared around the next bend, and Tally shook her head to clear the mushy thoughts away. She wasn't here to gawk. She was an infiltrator, a sneak, an ugly. And she had a mission.

The garden stretched up into town, winding like a black river through the bright party towers and houses. After a few more minutes of creeping, she startled a couple hidden among the trees (it was a pleasure garden, after all), but in the darkness they couldn't see her face, and only teased her as she mumbled an apology and slipped away. She hadn't seen too much of them, either, just a tangle of perfect legs and arms.

Finally, the garden ended, a few blocks from where Peris lived.

Tally peered out from behind a curtain of hanging vines. This was farther than she and Peris had ever been together, and as far as her planning had taken her. There was no way to hide herself in the busy, well-lit streets. She put her fingers up to her face, felt the wide nose and thin lips, the too-high forehead and tangled mass of frizzy hair. One step out of the underbrush and she'd be spotted. Her face seemed to burn as the light touched it. What was she doing here? She should be back in the darkness of Uglyville, awaiting her turn.

But she had to see Peris, had to talk to him. She wasn't quite sure why, exactly, except that she was sick of imagining a thousand conversations with him every night before she fell asleep. They'd spent every day together since they were littlies, and now...nothing. Maybe if they could just talk for a few minutes, her brain would stop talking to imaginary Peris. Three minutes might be enough to hold her for three months.

Tally looked up and down the street, checking for side yards to slink through, dark doorways to hide in. She felt like a rock climber facing a sheer cliff, searching for cracks and handholds.

The traffic began to clear a little, and she waited, rubbing the scar on her right palm. Finally, Tally sighed and whispered, "Best friends forever," and took a step forward into the light.

An explosion of sound came from her right, and she leaped back into the darkness, stumbling among the vines, coming down hard on her knees in the soft earth, certain for a few seconds that she'd been caught.

But the cacophony organized itself into a throbbing rhythm. It was a drum machine making its lumbering way down the street. Wide as a house, it shimmered with the movement of its dozens of mechanical arms, bashing away at every size of drum. Behind it trailed a growing bunch of revelers, dancing along with the beat, drinking and throwing their empty bottles to shatter against the huge, impervious machine.

Tally smiled. The revelers were wearing masks.

The machine was lobbing the masks out the back, trying to coax more followers into the impromptu parade: devil faces and horrible clowns, green monsters and gray aliens with big oval eyes, cats and dogs and cows, faces with crooked smiles or huge noses.

The procession passed slowly, and Tally pulled herself back into the vegetation. A few of the revelers passed close enough that the sickly sweetness from their bottles filled her nose. A minute later, when the machine had trundled half a block farther, Tally jumped out and snatched up a discarded mask from the street. The plastic was soft in her hand, still warm from having been stamped into shape inside the machine a few seconds before.

Before she pressed it against her face, Tally realized that it was the same color as the cat-vomit pink of the sunset, with a long snout and two pink little ears. Smart adhesive flexed against her skin as the mask settled onto her face.

Tally pushed her way through the drunken dancers, out the other side of the procession, and ran down a side street toward Garbo Mansion, wearing the face of a pig.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Uglies/Pretties/Specials

by Scott Westerfeld

About the Books

Living in a future where sixteen-year-olds are surgically transformed from "uglies" to "pretties," Tally Youngblood struggles with a choice: to become beautiful and content forever, or to leave the world she knows and keep her own face. Tally's decisions bring her to both locations as well as others she'd never dreamed of, but they also get her in and out of trouble, and force her to grow and change and learn. Westerfeld's books have won many nominations and awards as well as a huge fan following of teens everywhere. Uglies was named a 2006 Best Book for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

Discussion Topics

On your sixteenth birthday, how would you feel about being forced to have the surgery to become pretty? Would you feel like Tally — looking forward to being beautiful and bubbly — or like Shay — wanting to escape the surgery and stay ugly, but remain herself? If your best friend asked you to not have the surgery, what do think you would have chosen to do?

What elements of the Smoke remind you of a camping trip you've taken or one you've seen on TV or in a movie? What advice would you give the Smokies about living in the wild?

Tally has three important guys in her life: Peris, David and Zane. How does her relationship with each of the three effect her decisions at different points in the story? Which of the three do you think made the greatest impact on Tally?

Compare Tally's society with our society today. What are the similarities between Dr. Cable's controls and our owngovernment? Just as Tally and her friends were brought up learning about the failure of the Rusties' society, what lessons can be learned from the future portrayed in the series?

The author created new worlds, new technology and new language for the books. Which location — New Pretty Town, the Smoke, or Diego — would you want to make your home? Which of Tally's futuristic possessions — a hoverboard, a sneak suit, SpagBol — would you like to own? What were your favorite slang words in the series?

What do you think was the pivotal point in each of the three books? What would you change about them?

What are Tally's strongest assets and her tragic flaws? What about Shay? David? Zane?

Is Dr.Cable a protagonist or an antagonist? At what points in the series does she seem more good than evil or more evil than good? Does she have the best interests of the people of Pretty Town at heart or is she simply trying to gain power and prestige?

If the Uglies series was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the part of Tally? Shay? David? Zane? Peris? Dr. Cable? Where in the world do you think it should be filmed? Who would be the best director for this project?

Who was your favorite character in the series? How did you feel about how they ended up at the end of Specials? Which character do you think is the most like you or your friends?

Imagine that David decided to live in the city of Diego. What challenges would he face there, having grown up in the wild? What would a day in the life of David in Diego be like? Do you think he'd get used to his new life, or decide to return to his old one?

Where do you see Tally two years after the end of Specials? How about Shay? Peris? What do you think Pretty Town and Diego would be like two years later?

Activities

Design your own hoverboard. First make a blueprint including what kinds of gadgets you would include in its secret compartments, then make a prototype using cardboard, paper towel rolls, markers, etc.

Act out a scene from one of the books. Assign parts to each participant and choose your favorite scene — maybe Tally's first trip to New Pretty Town to visit Peris, the invasion of the Smoke by Special Circumstances, or the destruction of the Armory.

Put a pretty spin on a sport (think about the suspended ice skating rink in Pretties) and come up with your own bubbly rules and regulations.

Put yourself in Dr. Cable's shoes. Take turns telling the Specials story from her point of view and include what you think her motives were behind her actions in the previous two books.

Design your own Smoke fashions, Diego surge or sneak suits. What materials found in the wild could you use to fit in at the Smoke? In Diego, would you have a snake for a pinky? How would you use your sneak suit in your everyday life?

Debate the benefits of Pretty Town versus the Smoke versus Diego. Form three teams — one pro-Diego, one pro-Smoke and one pro-Pretty Town — and discuss the positives and negatives of each.

Look at the covers of Uglies, Pretties and Specials. Then re-draw your own version of each of the covers highlighting your favorite scene from each book.

Scott Westerfeld's teen novels include the Uglies series, the Midnighters trilogy, The Last Days, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the sequel to Peeps. Scott was born in Texas, and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City.

Reading Group Guide

Uglies/Pretties/Specials

by Scott Westerfeld

About the Books

Living in a future where sixteen-year-olds are surgically transformed from "uglies" to "pretties," Tally Youngblood struggles with a choice: to become beautiful and content forever, or to leave the world she knows and keep her own face. Tally's decisions bring her to both locations as well as others she'd never dreamed of, but they also get her in and out of trouble, and force her to grow and change and learn. Westerfeld's books have won many nominations and awards as well as a huge fan following of teens everywhere. Uglies was named a 2006 Best Book for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

Discussion Topics

On your sixteenth birthday, how would you feel about being forced to have the surgery to become pretty? Would you feel like Tally — looking forward to being beautiful and bubbly — or like Shay — wanting to escape the surgery and stay ugly, but remain herself? If your best friend asked you to not have the surgery, what do think you would have chosen to do?

What elements of the Smoke remind you of a camping trip you've taken or one you've seen on TV or in a movie? What advice would you give the Smokies about living in the wild?

Tally has three important guys in her life: Peris, David and Zane. How does her relationship with each of the three effect her decisions at different points in the story? Which of the three do you think made the greatest impact on Tally?

Compare Tally's society with our society today. What are the similarities between Dr. Cable's controls and our own government? Just as Tally and her friends were brought up learning about the failure of the Rusties' society, what lessons can be learned from the future portrayed in the series?

The author created new worlds, new technology and new language for the books. Which location — New Pretty Town, the Smoke, or Diego — would you want to make your home? Which of Tally's futuristic possessions — a hoverboard, a sneak suit, SpagBol — would you like to own? What were your favorite slang words in the series?

What do you think was the pivotal point in each of the three books? What would you change about them?

What are Tally's strongest assets and her tragic flaws? What about Shay? David? Zane?

Is Dr.Cable a protagonist or an antagonist? At what points in the series does she seem more good than evil or more evil than good? Does she have the best interests of the people of Pretty Town at heart or is she simply trying to gain power and prestige?

If the Uglies series was made into a movie, who would you cast to play the part of Tally? Shay? David? Zane? Peris? Dr. Cable? Where in the world do you think it should be filmed? Who would be the best director for this project?

Who was your favorite character in the series? How did you feel about how they ended up at the end of Specials? Which character do you think is the most like you or your friends?

Imagine that David decided to live in the city of Diego. What challenges would he face there, having grown up in the wild? What would a day in the life of David in Diego be like? Do you think he'd get used to his new life, or decide to return to his old one?

Where do you see Tally two years after the end of Specials? How about Shay? Peris? What do you think Pretty Town and Diego would be like two years later?

Activities

Design your own hoverboard. First make a blueprint including what kinds of gadgets you would include in its secret compartments, then make a prototype using cardboard, paper towel rolls, markers, etc.

Act out a scene from one of the books. Assign parts to each participant and choose your favorite scene — maybe Tally's first trip to New Pretty Town to visit Peris, the invasion of the Smoke by Special Circumstances, or the destruction of the Armory.

Put a pretty spin on a sport (think about the suspended ice skating rink in Pretties) and come up with your own bubbly rules and regulations.

Put yourself in Dr. Cable's shoes. Take turns telling the Specials story from her point of view and include what you think her motives were behind her actions in the previous two books.

Design your own Smoke fashions, Diego surge or sneak suits. What materials found in the wild could you use to fit in at the Smoke? In Diego, would you have a snake for a pinky? How would you use your sneak suit in your everyday life?

Debate the benefits of Pretty Town versus the Smoke versus Diego. Form three teams — one pro-Diego, one pro-Smoke and one pro-Pretty Town — and discuss the positives and negatives of each.

Look at the covers of Uglies, Pretties and Specials. Then re-draw your own version of each of the covers highlighting your favorite scene from each book.

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Shockingly Good!

Honestly, I'm the kind of girl who loves Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, and anything else fantasy and otherwise. So when I saw the cover of this book and the title, I outwardly laughed at the idiocy! But after much persuasion from my friends and countless begging, I picked it up. I was amazed at the fact that A) This is a Sci-Fi B) It's about false utopias and C) It's good!
The story is unique and compelling. The ideas are challenging and thought provoking and, without giving too much away, the relationship junk (my opinions are mine) isn't the main focus, but instead a great add in and is sufficient to those hopeless romantics (which believe it or not, I am). The author, although male, proves to be able to write brilliantly in the teenage girl voice that even many female writers cannot master.
I give this book an A+ for the stupendous ability to capture a harsh critic like myself.

109 out of 114 people found this review helpful.

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Reads_a_lot

Posted April 29, 2009

I Also Recommend:

Boring to me

I hate book-haters, because negativity just brings those who may love a certain book down. I'll just say I didn't think this book was right for ME. I personally like to read books in which the characters are rebellious themselves, much more like Tally's friend Shay was. I didn't like how Tally was so willing to conform to the stupid system of becoming pretty and all that. It held my interest for a bit, but I was never captivated, or wrapped up in the book so much I couldn't tear myself away.

43 out of 97 people found this review helpful.

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OMG!!!

I have read this book and the rest of this series several times. And each time I find or realize something new about the characters or the plot. It keeps you guessing no matter how many times you read it. The basic story is it is set in the future and when you turn 16 you go under the knife and be changed from an ugly to a pretty. This book follows a trouble making uglie's journey before her surgery. Makes new friends and enemies. And not only is this book good but the entire series is good! I reccomend this to anyone in need of a good book to read!!

39 out of 41 people found this review helpful.

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Amaya713

Posted November 25, 2008

I Also Recommend:

Not as superficial as it may seem...

Whenever I saw this book a while back, I never wanted to read it because the title sounded so preppy and shallow. I would have expected the book to be more of a "girly" book about beauty, boys, etc. etc. However, there's way more to this book that meets the eye. <BR/><BR/>Once I started reading, I was hooked. This book tells the story about a future world where everyone becomes "pretty" on their sixteenth birthday. It was intriguing to read about such a society that focuses solely on image. It really makes you think about how we see beauty today. So many things had changed from our modern world-- it was interesting to think about. <BR/>The plot and characters were also superb. The main character is Tally, an "ugly" who can't wait to turn pretty. But then she meets Shay. Shay is another ugly who isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She opens Tally's eyes to a whole new world, and Tally is thrust headfirst into it. The characters continue to interest you throughout the story and the plot keeps you at the edge of your seat. <BR/><BR/>Overall, I would wholeheartedly reccommend this book, especially to teen readers. Despite the seemingly superficial title, this book actually has some strong morals and themes. Just goes to show, don't judge a book by it's cover (or title, in this case) ;-)

35 out of 38 people found this review helpful.

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Incredible!

I loved this book! It is awsome! I related to Tally so much. Me being a girl and having to be presurred by super model gorgeuseness. This book helped me realize that if you be who you are nothing can stop you. Stand up for what you believe in and whats right. Tally Youngblood is a smart determined girl to turn pretty.But when one of her friends doesn't want to turn pretty she starts questioning what it will actually mean to be pretty, other than the non-stop fun and parties. I think Tally is a girl to look up to. In the end, Tally makes a decision that does and will change her life forever. Read this book! It keeps people at the edge of there seats! Once i picked it up i couldn't put it down. It is adventures and said 'crap' here and there and had pleasure gardens and kissing but nothing graphic and nothing to into deteail. I recommend for girls ages 10-14. Tally is beautiful at heart.

16 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

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Uglies

I originally became aware of this series (Uglies, Pretties, Specials & Extras) because of my daughter. She was 12 at the time and a little young for the books, I thought. Now that I have finally read the start of the series, I think that belief was unfounded. When I hear that a book is categorized as Young Adult I automatically think 14+.<BR/><BR/>SV, my 14 (almost 15) year old read the first three in the series this past summer. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Tally, Shay David, Croy and all the rest. There world is our world... 300 or so years later. The "ruins" are our cities - crumbled, burned, destroyed. There is a definite message to us, now, in Uglies. We need to stop living like "What I do doesn't matter to anyone but me".<BR/><BR/>As far as the "operation" that everyone has when they turn 16 (everyone except those that have conviction enough to runaway) that scares me. There is already a belief in this country that it's okay to give your children plastic surgery for a high school graduation gift or even a 16th birthday present. I won't go on about how wrong I think this is.<BR/><BR/>There is a total cliffhanger ending to Uglies. I am finding it hard to NOT pick up Pretties which is now sitting in my bookcase since I thieved it from my 14 year old daughter's bookcase. =)

16 out of 19 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 4, 2009

Uglies by Cott Westerfield

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Well, I really hated this book. I will give it one star but I would rate it lower if I could. Here are some of the reasons why I didn't like this book:
. It was extremely boring especially before the rusty ruins, not enough drama or suspense
. Very odd plot with no explanations such as pretties, uglies and specials
. Not my kind of topic that I like to read, not enough action or suspense
Well, the plot is very diverse and large with many side stories to it. It starts out a 15 year old girl named Tally is about to turn into a "pretty". Her new friend Shay doesn't like that idea of being artificially beautiful. She appreciates our inner beauty for what it was. She wants to run away to a place called the "Smoke" which is an illegal hideout for the "Uglies". The pretty authorities find out about this and send Tally to locate the smoke so they can destroy it. Her close friends are kidnapped and she must save them. I would say the main action in the book was trying to be pretty.
I believe the main lesson learned by the characters was that freedom isn't free. You must fight to win freedom but not for yourself, but others too. You have to maintain this freedom whether it is by force or peacefully. This lesson especially applies to our world because we aren't under one flag. There are communist, dictatorships and tyrannical rulers in this world. The free nations of the world like the US have to spend trillions just to maintain freedom and prosperity in this world.

I would recommend this book to my mom. I would recommend Uglies to her because she simply loves to read. I would think it would be more of her type of book since it wasn't as violent or action type. She likes books with suspense too and this book has at least some of it.
Overall, I did not like this book but I believe many other people will like this book way more than me. Try It!

By Keenan Cromshaw

12 out of 28 people found this review helpful.

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Loved It!

Scott Westerfeld has a brilliant imagination. This book was a page turner and left me wanting more. Thank God there are sequels. I can't wait to see what happens when Tally becomes "pretty"! Highly recommended for teens and adults.

11 out of 13 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 26, 2011

Awesome

I read all the books...... so much better than Twilight.

9 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

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Suzie_Q

Posted July 21, 2010

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld's novel, Uglies, is about what things could be like after we harm our environment on Earth too much. Don't be fooled thinking this is a book only warning us about global warming, however.
Tally Youngblood will soon turn sixteen, the age she's been waiting for her entire life. At the age of sixteen, people finally get to have the operation that will make them pretty. However, she will soon learn from a new friend, Shay, that there are risks no one know about when getting the operation. Below is a quote of Shay and Tally talking about the advantages and disadvantages of getting the operation:
"Shay! Come on. it's just for fun."
"Making ourselves feel ugly is not fun."
"We are ugly!"
"This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves."
Tally groaned and flopped back onto her bed, glaring up at the ceiling. Shay could be so weird sometimes. She always had a chip on her shoulder about the operation, like someone was making her turn sixteen. "Right, and things were so great back when everyone was ugly. or did you miss that day in school?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Shay recited. "Everyone judged everyone else based on their appearance. People who were taller got better jobs, and people even voted for some politicians just because they weren't quite as ugly as everybody else. Blah, blah, blah."
"Yeah, and people killed one another over stuff like having different skin color." Tally shook her head. No matter how many times they repeated it at school, she'd never quite believed that one. "So what if people look more alike now? It's the only way to make people equal."
Scott Westerfeld dives into a new world about deception, knowledge, and what true friendship really is.
The book is very well done. Westerfeld makes up his own new words like "Rusties" and "Smokies" but he does an excellent job at describing what his new terms are.
Uglies will keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next in this adventurous and suspenseful book.

9 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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worst book ever!

When i first started reading this book, i thought it was okay. Sure, it takes some time to get what's going on but whatever. As I moved foward though, it started getting pointless and boring. I had to force myself to keep reading until it got to the point where I just left it there and said goodbye. I would definetly NOT recommend this book...

9 out of 40 people found this review helpful.

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chelsey

Posted November 21, 2008

this was a goood book!

This was a really good book! It was so good i read all the series! It yiu like adventures and thrilling books you'll like this one.

9 out of 13 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted February 9, 2012

Wow

This book i must say is amazing gives a true idea of its mot always so bright on the other side ; D

8 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 8, 2012

Full of everything good!!

This is a great romance, action book for teens. Im 11 and i still love the series. Just finished the third book. The storys get twisted and r just awesome. I highly reccomnd the series!!

7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 4, 2009

Uglies

The book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld is a good book,i give it 5/5 stars. I like the fact that Tally goes through betrayals and side changes. The problems Tally faces are realistic,like when she has to chose to go or to stay at the Smoke. This book also has loveable characters, like the wild david.

The story begins with the main charicter,Tally, sneaks into New Pretty Town to ser her old freind Peris. She meest a nother ugly Shay there. When Shay runs away a organazation calls Tally in to help find her. She gois to a place called The Smoke and meast David. She is forced to make a decision,stay with David in the smoke or go back to the city and become a pretty.

In This book Tlly learns that sometimes o follow your heart,you have to break the rules. This applied to me when m parnest wanted to get rid of my gold fish. When i found out i hid him under my bed for 3 days. When my parents found out i got in trouble.

I would recomend this book to people 12- younger people wouldn't understand, and older people wouldn't care about this book. This book has plenty of action,like when Tally and the smoke is atacked my the specals. This book also has some romance, like when Tally and David kiss. In conclution thid book has a ending that will leave you breathless.

7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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well............

ok so this series wasn't "horrible" but i wouldn't necessarily call it "good" either. i love to read books- i mean LOVE to - and alot of the books that i read captivate me so much that i cant put the book down and i keep checking to see how many pages are left because im scared that it will end. the uglies trilogy never captivated me like that and when i checked to see how many pages were left, it was because i couldn't wait until it was over. i found my self reading just so that i could finish instead of reading for fun -- i kept hoping it would get better -- i kept hoping it would get better threw specials and it didn't so i have no desire to read extras. this book wasn't right for me so if i were you i wouldn't waste my time on this series. however, if you want to read something science-fictiony and futeristic then i recommend the host by stephenie meyer. if your into books where the main characters go on journeys away from home, then i recommend My fair godmother by jenette Rasilion and wing by e.d. baker and the s.a.s.s. series by various authors. however if you absolutely loved this book then a book that i found had similar writing style is magic or madness by justine larbalestier.

6 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted March 9, 2008

Poor

If you are older than 12 you have no business reading this overly simplistic, childish book. If you're looking for dystopia read a real book, like The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, etc.

6 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 4, 2013

Love it

I read the free sample and i can't put it down. I have to know whats next. ( :?) Ugly )

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 10, 2012

Interesting Book!

I have to read this book for a reading class and it is really good so far.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted July 2, 2012

Hi spot read this

U should totally read this book girls can kick but as bad as boy

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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